Indicator dials



March 1, 1960 M. PANERAI ET AL 2,926,626

INDICATOR DIALS Filed May 6, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.1

Fig? IE5 Fig.4 Figmh PANERAI Gina": PANERAI INVENTORS Alt March 1, 1960 M. PANERAI ETAL 2 INDICATOR DIALS Filed May 6, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Maria. Giusamx.

INVENTORS imputed p 2,926,626 INDICATOR DIALS Marla Panerai and Giuseppelanerai, Florence, Italy APPliCiifiOll May 6, 1958, SerialNo. 733,352 Claimspi'iority, application Italy May14, 1957 16 Claims. (Cl. 116133) llie: present invention relates to an improvement in the dials of indicators, whereapointer'movable one disc supplies an information in accordance witha number of information -eleme1its carried by said disc.

For special applications which can readily appearto -the skilledflpersons in the art of the remote transmission of data, the problem occurs according to which the actual positions of the information elements carried by the dial no more correspond to their exact locations, or said elementshave to'be peripherally moved at intervals which areinot uniform andwhichmay alsovary through a given United States Patent timelperiod, for instance depending upon different adjustments of the transmitting element which may drive the movement of a pointer with respect to the dial, or of the dial with respect t'o a stationary mark or reference.

Obviously, in such a case, a dial wherein the informacarried thereby are rigidly fixed in constant posi- Etionswith respect to each other, does not lend itself to the solution of the technical problem.

This invention aims to find the solution allowing these difficulties to be overcome, rendering adjust-ablethe positions *of the information elements with respect to each othbr, and obviously also 'of *all of the elements with respect to the dial.

"possibility is reached by furnishing the dial with clamping means for inserts on which .are marked the information elements orindications,-said clamping means beingcapable of allowing little relative adjustingmove- 'lments of the *aforesaid elements.

' "Generally speaking, the dial is provided with a recess apt to receive said information elements and 'with the means for retaining said elements in locations radially equispaced "or not. Of course the recess has the only functional purposes of providing a flat surface on the dial, and in fact should notbe 'necessaryto have all of the-information elements lyingin a single plane, with no discontinuity, "saidelements can also he -applied so as -to individually project from a single flat surface forming the support element of the dial.

This invention will be more particularly described only by way of example with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 shows a front elevation of a dial, wherein in i Fig. 2, of a different form of the invention;

Fig. 4 shows a cross-sectional view similar to that of Fig. 2, of a different embodiment of this invention;

Fig. 5 shows a cross-sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 1, with the information element which does not appear in Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 shows a front elevation of a different type of Fig. 7.

2,926,626 Patented Mar. 1, 1960 Figs. 1 and 2 which show what can be termed the simp'lest' forrn of the invention, the dial 10 is embodied by a disc having an annular recess 11 wherein are radially received the sectors 12 carrying the information elements. For clampingsaid sectors, the recess 11 is provided at its outer edge with a groove 13 undercut in the thickness of thedisc, and eachsector 12 is provided at both its radially opposite ends, with two projections or shoulders 14 and 15 respectively. The projection 14 is apt to en ter the groove 13,while on the projection 15 can bear a ring 161fastened to the disc 10 by the screws 17. Of course, the several sectors 12 are fastened by the pressure of the ringlfi on the projecting portion 15 and thereforeit will'be sutficient to loosen the screw 17 in order to allow the slight angular movements of the sectors to bring same to dilferent radial positions, while totally removing the screw 17 and the ring 16 it will be possible to remove all of the several sectors l2.

The arrangement shown in Fig. 4 is substantially corresponding to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, apart from the fact that the parts are reversed, and particularly the clamping ring 16' has been mounted on the outer edge of the dial which also in this case has been denoted by 10. The sector 12 carrying the information is provided, as in the preceding case, with the step portions 15" and 14', but in this case the part 15 enters a channel totally formed in the body 'of the disc 10, while on the projection 14' bears, to clamp thesector 12, the ring 16 fixed by the screw 17.

The Fig. 3 shows the case in which it is expected that the dial is submitted to no shock, vibration or mechanical fatigue; in this case the dial 10 is provided with a recess 18 the walls of which are totally smooth, and the sector 19 is provided at its rear portion with a number of perma nent magnets 20 which, beingthe disc 10 made of a suittending through a certain angular extent, and arranged at differentradial spacings from the center so as to cover to'gether the entire circumference, denoted at 21. Said slots are made in the bottom of the annular recess 23 of theexposed surfaceof thedial forming disclt), and the sectors 22 carrying the information element are provided in their rear surface with an apertured projection, internally threaded, into which may be engaged the screw 25 applied from the rear surface to the dial so as to clamp the rear surface of the sector 22 against the facing surface of the recess. Of course, by loosening the screw 25 it will be possible to cause said screw to glide along the associated slot guide 21, and with the screw the sector engaged thereby.

The embodiments as far described have a single information on each radial element of the dial. Figs. 6 and 7 show the case according to which each radial element of the dial is apt to carry two informations which must be capable of being angularly adjusted with respect to each other.

In this case the dial, which is yet denoted by 10, is provided with an annular recess the walls of which are inclined so that the recess is restricted towards the front portion of the dial. This recess is indicated at 26 in In said recess, two circular concentric series of sectors 27 and 28, respectively, are arranged, and said sectors are provided with side walls inclined like the sides of the recess 26 so as to be inserted therein by a dovetail connection. In the intermediate circular land which separates the two circular annular units formedby the sectors, is inserted a ring 29 which bears on the facing sides of the sectors 27 and 28, and being provided in its turn with inclined sides complementary to those of the aforesaid sectors, clamps same at their determined positions, being in turn blocked against the dial by means of screws which, as shown at the upper portion of the Figs. 6 and 7, may be either inserted from the front portion of the dial towards its rear surface, or, as shown in the lower portion of said figures, in reverse direction. In said figures, by 30 have been denoted the screws so arranged that their head is exposed on the front surface of the dial, while the numeral reference 31 denotes the screws arranged in contrary direction.

We claim:

1. An indicator dial with adjustable indicia carrying elements, which comprises a disc having a peripheral edge and a central hub, said edge and said hub projecting from the same side surface of the disc and perpendicular with respect to the said surface, said edge and said hub defining between them a cavity in form of an annulus having as a bottom the surface of the said disc, at least one plurality of circular sectors having indicia thereon, said sectors being arranged in the said cavity and abutting at one end against said edge and at the other end against said hub, said sectors being displaceable around said annulus with respect to each other, and means on said disc for fastening said sectors in a desired position with respect to each other and to the disc.

2. An indicator dial as claimed in claim 1, wherein said disc is of magnetic material and each sector is provided in its rear surface facing the bottom of the said cavity with at least one recess, a permanent magnet inserted in said recess and fiush with said rear surface, said magnet being in contact with the disc at the bottom of the said cavity to adhere thereto and to fasten the related sector in a desired position with respect to the disc and to the adjacent sectors.

3. An indicator dial as claimed in claim 1, wherein said disc at the bottom of the cavity has a plurality of arc shaped'slots there and each of the said sectors has a projection on the surface thereof facing the bottom of the cavity, said projection extending through one of the said plurality of slots, a threaded member screwed onto each of the said projections, said threaded member being in the form of a screw having a head with the diameter greater thanthe width of the said slots and abutting against the disc to fasten each of the said sectors in a desired position with respect to the disc and to the adjacent sectors.

4. An indicator dial as claimed in claim 1, in which said disc has a circular recess along the base of the said peripheral edge, and each sector has a step at the two radial ends, the step at the end toward the periphery of the disc extending into the said recess at the base of the said edge, a ring abutting against the said hub and the step portion of each sector at the end toward the center of the disc, threaded members in the form of screws extending through said ring and engageable with the said hub for fastening each sector in a desired position with respect to the disc and the adjacent sectors.

5. An indicator dial as claimed in claim 1 wherein said disc has a circular recess at the base of the said hub and each sector has a step at the two radial ends, the step at the end toward the hub extending into the said recess at the base, of the hub, a ring at the periphery of the disc abutting against the edge of the said disc and the step of the sectors at the end toward the periphery of the disc, threaded members in the form of screws extending through the said ring into said edge for fastening each sector in a desired position with respect to the disc and the adjacent sectors.

6. An indicator dial with adjustable indicia carrying elements, which comprises a disc having a peripheral edge and a central hub, saidedge and said hub projecting from the same side surface of the disc and perpendicular with respect to the said surface, said edge and said hub defining between them a cavity in form of an annulus having as a bottom the said surface of the disc, the sides of said cavity being inclined toward each other, an annular wall in the middleline of the said cavity having the side surfaces thereof inclined toward said edge and said hub respectively, two pluralities of sectors the first of which lie between said wall and said edge, and the second of which lie between said wall and said hub, the said sectors having are shaped endsof different lengths and carrying indicia on the sectors, the ends of the said sectors having the walls inclined at the same inclination toward the middle transverse line of the said sectors, the sectors of the said first plurality having the longer ends in engagement with the said edge and the sectors of the said second plurality having the shorter ends in engagement with said hub, the shorter ends of the sectors of the first plurality and the longer ends of the sectors of the said second plurality being engaged with the inclined walls of the said annular wall, and screw means for securing said annular wall to the bottom of the said channel with said sectors of the said first and second pluralities in a desired position with respect to the disc and the adjacent sectors.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

